Antonio Lascuña brings hot form to Valley

MANILA, Philippines — Coming off strong finishes in three Asian Tour events in as many weeks, Antonio Lascuña will join the ICTSI Valley Golf Challenge starting Wednesday as one of the odds-on picks over the tree-lined South course in Antipolo.

After finishing prominently in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, Lascuña will be taking fine form into the P2-million event as he tries to win for the second time this year.

Frankie Miñoza is flying back to Japan today to campaign in the Senior Tour, and Angelo Que has yet to confirm his entry, making Lascuña as the most seasoned— and hottest—internationalist in the lot.

Charles Hong will be gunning for a second straight crown after winning at Sherwood Hills two weeks ago by one shot over the young Micah Shin.

The local field will also be using this event to hone up for the ICTSI Philippine Open, which will be presented by the MVP Sports Foundation starting Thursday next week at its old home, the East course of Wack Wack in Mandaluyong.

“I still think it’s anybody’s game,” Lascuña said in Filipino after arriving Sunday from Singapore. “There are a lot of pretty good players in the tour.”

Hong has also been keeping himself sharp, never resting despite bagging the biggest paycheck of his career— P650,000—for winning at Sherwood.

Premium will be on accuracy off the tees this week with the South course known as one of the tightest layouts in the country.

Today’s pro-am tournament ushers in the event backed by Nike Golf, KZG, Titleist, Cleveland, Pacsports, Srixon, Callaway, Sharp and FootJoy.